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Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Epic failure(s)

So let me let you in an a little fact. When I knit something, I knit it 3 times. I am not saying I knit 3 ITEMS......nope, generally I screw up and unravel until I have knit the damn thing 3 times over!

On the bright side.....I am grateful that yarn can be unraveled; fabric can not be "uncut"! So at least when I have one of my epic knitting failures, I CAN start all over again!

Case in point: my Golden Wheat Cardigan. I started it in November. Consulted a "real" knitter for advice (thanks, Linda). Knit my swatch. Got going....realized I did it backwards. Unravel. Knit again. A couple balls of yarn in, I thought, "this looks small....." Realized I had restarted on the WRONG sized needles- SIZE 6 instead of 6mm (size 10!)! Grrr....Unraveled again. Now am on my way (I hope??). Hope to finish it to enjoy this spring!

Another example: I was to make a cowl on the airplane to/from Disney. Did the knit/unravel dance 4 times and then finally finished it....but it seems a bit small, even though I had made it longer than the pattern. It is wearable, but I know it will drive me nuts and I love the yarn and pattern too much to waste it....so this one will be "frogged" and restarted yet again! But I LOVE the yarn feel and color, and the lacy pattern is nice and light weight so it will be the perfect accessory to enjoy from winter right into spring. Here is a sneak peak (from before I unraveled it!):

So, there you have it, the secret to my "success"! But, even with all the frustration, I still love knitting. What can I say? A glutton for punishment I guess!

And, much like quilting, one of my favorite parts of knitting is finding fabulous new yarn. Here is the next delicious pile I plan to mess up with! Tanis Fiber Arts Green label in Shadow. My "birthday" yarn ;) Gonna knit me up a sweater....maybe in time for NEXT year's birthday!?!I am salivating over the hand-dyed greys with the hints of blue......

14 comments:

Like you, I think I do frogging more than knitting, but I love it too. Just bought yarn for my first cardigan, a cotton and linen blend. Call be scared!ps...I don't like the new google word verification. Makes me not want to comment.

I love knitting and I've been a knitter for years but I hardly ever finish anything - I'm rarely happy with the started article for a variety of reasons so 'frogged' it is. If you look back over my blog it is embrassing how many I've started but I don't think I've finished anything I've featured! I'll just slink off now....

Thank goodness for knitting's redo-ability. And don't feel alone - I have been known to knit things (or at least part of things) more than once - and I have been knitting for a very long time (and tutor knitting workshops!).

Nooooooo! Now what is your excuse for the needles-you're Canadian after all! :) if it's any consolation, I ripped out a sleeve today because I decided I didn't like the cuff. Don't worry, you're a real knitter! We rip out stuff all the time. But this real knitter IS going to have to teach you how to swatch! (and I'm flattered -thanks for the mention!)

A famous golfer once said. I hate this game, I would like to destroy all my clubs and bury them. And I can't wait to get back out there tomorrow and play again. Sounds like knitting to me. I also have ripped out many things. Once I made a sweater for my grandson with 100% wool yarn and did not like the result so I ripped it out and made him an afghan.

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